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Monthly Archives: October 2014

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We went to another Pete’s game tonight – fast and furious, this time more like the description Stella sent us after we saw our first ice hockey game this time last week. She wrote of her experience seeing a game “I went to a fight and an ice hockey game broke out!” There were a couple of “gloves off and laying into each other” fights, only one of which resulted in both players being sent off for 5 minutes for “unsportsmanly behaviour” and a separate incident where the referee got caught up between the players after a puck drop (we are learning all the lingo now!) and ended up injured on the ground, it was a good while before he got up again. Being an ice hockey referee must be quite a risky job! The Pete’s were on good form, much more skilful (or so it seemed to me) with more accurate passing and reading of the game – there were many more shots on goal and the final score was 4-1! Ben and Simon lined up to get player cards signed by two of the Pete’s – giants of young men who were impressed that people from Australia were watching their match!

During the day Ben and I went to the Peterborough Museum. We went around the very interesting exhibit detailing the history and development of Peterborough, the journeys and immigration of the settlers, the demise of the First Nation people, the building boom and the wealth of the town as it became a centre of manufacturing. There was a splendid opera house here once, I will have to find out what happened to it, I do hope it wasn’t knocked down to make way for Peterborough Square which is not a very lovely shopping centre! Most of Peterborough looks much like it did in the 1890s when the architecture was more stylish than much of the more recent building here.

There was also a travelling exhibition from the Royal Ontario Museum called “Egypt, Gift of the Nile” with exhibits about life in ancient Egypt and a mummy. This was quite a small exhibition but really fascinating. Both Ben and I would recommend a visit to the Peterborough Museum.

And in the morning I met some of the mums for knitting and a natter at the Electric City Bread Company which is very well worth a visit – fabulous pastries! Both the lunch and dinner menus look delicious, and maybe brunch one weekend!

I dashed out of the door at 6am to catch the Greyhound bus to Toronto to meet a really good friend for the day. Such fun to have a girly day – shopping and lunch at Holt Renfrew, a very lovely department store with a very lovely café, where we enjoyed our delicious BLT salads and a drop of Canadian Pinot Gris from Blue Mountain, Ukanagan Valley, BC. Ladies who Lunch! But not very often!

I came back to Simon and Ben engrossed in the Lego Movie, which I have seen and enjoyed far more than I had expected to, it is surprisingly entertaining and very witty. Pad Thai takeaway for them for dinner! Another frustrating day for Simon, so close to masteries. As Mr Coppins told me last year at this point a superhuman effort is required! No wonder Simon’s brain is aching!

Another glorious walk with the Parent’s Walking Group, from Nichols Oval along the rotary trail to Beavermead Park and back via the Lift Lock in wonderful autumn/fall weather. How lucky are we?

Meanwhile Simon was working so hard he came home with a terrible brain ache and went to bed incredibly early! It probably sounds mean but that is really exciting as it is most likely due to his brain changing and that, after all, is why we are here!

And I finally made it back to the Peterborough Library Book Group, a charming book, The Storied Life of A J Fikry, a story of books, book lovers, love and literacy. There was little dissension amongst the ladies (no men at the book group!), a good quick read, if a little sad. I do love books and libraries! And book groups!

Back to Niagara and our weekend! Simon and Ben got their tickets for the four Must Do attractions at Niagara Falls and off they went after I took a photo of them, hair blowing wildly in the wind, just in front of the Canadian falls. They had a great afternoon going on the Hornblower (previously and more well known as the Maid of the Mist, but that name is now only for use in the US) boat, onto the White water Rapids, the walk behind the falls but they missed out the cheesy movie and the 4D experience, the Fury. They even fitted in a game of mini golf, all the while I was enjoying a trip to Niagara on the Lake via various wineries, including tasting wines at Reimer, Trius and Konzelmann. I stopped at Iniskillin too but was quite overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people there, although I was glad to have stopped as there for some lovely photos opportunities.

I found a small Art Gallery, Riverbrink, full of interesting Canadian art, for the most part. It was built by a lawyer, Sam Weir, in the 70s and left to the people of Canada on his death. I wandered through and enjoyed a sense of Canadian history as well as some lovely art.

Onto Niagara on the Lake which was packed with tourists, like me! I had a beautiful walk along the lakeside and through the historic town, stopping only for a scone at the Irish Tea House. As the sun set I drove back to Niagara to meet up with the boys for dinner in the Keg where the dinner was good but the view over the falls was even better!

Onto the CN Tower in the morning, after breakfasting overlooking the falls once again. They are mesmerising and I could spend all day watching them. The view from the CN Tower was pretty spectacular too, looking out over Toronto and Lake Ontario. We went up to the Pod, some 188 storeys above ground level, that made me more shaky than going on the glass floor in the look out at 144 storeys! Much to my surprise Simon was happy to lie down on the glass floor but couldn’t look down on the people outside on the Edge walk, why anyone wants to do that walk is beyond me! The Horzons restaurant on the 144 th floor was our lunch spot, overlooking the planes taking off and landing at Toronto’s Island airport, looking like tiny toy planes!

Onto the Zoo which was huge! All sorts of animals, from Grizzly Bears to tigers, giraffes, turtles and tiny sea horses. The Pygmy hippo kept us entertained for some time playing with a big buoy in his lake, blowing bubbles when surfacing from time to time! I am not sure about the rights and wrongs of keeping animals in zoos but their conservation and scientific work is really important as is allowing people to appreciate the wonders of the natural world. Any thoughts on this, anyone?

And finally, tonight we carved the pumpkins we bought at the pumpkin festival last weekend. Pretty splendid, wouldn’t you agree?

Did I say we were off to Niagara this weekend? A busy weekend and lots of fun, starting with the new Friday night at our house, I went to Andrea’s for dinner whilst zombies were being killed (on a video game!) and then movies were watched. Up early to Niagara and the rest of the weekend we will relate tomorrow. It was a long journey back today via the CN Tower and the zoo and a very long winded drive to the zoo! Enough, I have to go to bed. Hope everyone’s weekend was as fun as ours!

This is the cheer for the Peterborough Petes who play in the Ontario Hockey league. Tonight they were playing the Saginaw Spirit, a team from Saginaw Michigan. Our first ice hockey game! There was a minutes silence for the soldiers killed this week in Quebec and Ottawa before the game. You could have heard a pin drop, it was very moving and respectful. The Stars and Stripes followed and then a very rousing rendition of Oh Canada (sorry my Canadian friends but it is an odd title for your National Anthem!) followed by much cheering, which was defiant. I don’t often agree with steven Harper but I thought his proclamation that Canada will not be intimidated was great. And then in true Canadian spirit it was on with the game. Even though the Petes were roundly defeated, 4-0, it was such an exciting game! So fast and thrilling, lots of action! Simon and Ben both really enjoyed it, as did I, so much so we will go back next week! A telling remark from Simon “Mum, last year I wouldn’t have understood what was going on in this game”. How great that he can understand so much more and appreciate those changes. That remark made my evening.

And earlier in the day, Mr Coppins obviously decided to make the most of the beautiful Indian summer (you know what I mean!) by stopping class early, going to the oval and organising a game of touch football! What a fabulous way to celebrate the sunshine. Ben and I went for a walk along the canal to the Lift Lock which has stopped operations in anticipation of winter but is very impressive nonetheless.